BELL ALIANT INC. $25.09 (Toronto symbol BA; Shares outstanding: 227.8 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.6%; www.aliant.ca) sells telephone and Internet services to 2.8 million customers in Atlantic Canada, as well as rural parts of Ontario and Quebec. The company also sells wireless services through an alliance with BCE, which owns 43.8% of Bell Aliant.
The company faces strong competition from cable providers. In addition, many of its phone customers are switching to wireless devices. However, Bell Aliant’s wireless agreement with BCE, plus upgrades to its high-speed Internet network, are helping it hold on to its current clients and attract new ones.
Bell Aliant’s high-speed fibre optic systems now reach 458,000 homes. The company plans to increase that to 650,000 by the end of 2012. Its capital expenditures were $177 million in the latest quarter, up 14.8% from a year earlier.
In the three months ended June 30, 2012, Bell Aliant’s revenue fell 0.7%, to $688 million from $692.6 million a year earlier. Revenue from local phone services fell 5.4%, while long-distance revenue fell 11.6%. That offset gains from wireless (up 14.6%) and high-speed Internet (up 5.8%).
Bell Aliant earned $79.3 million, or $0.35 a share, in the latest quarter. That’s down 4.1% from $82.7 million, or $0.36 a share.
The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.475 a share, for a high annualized yield of 7.6%. That dividend appears safe.
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